Over time, the interests of sociological social psychologists and psychological social psychologists have diverged somewhat.How do these two groups of investigators differ in their methodological approach? How do they differ in regards to their primary areas of inquiry? Despite these differences, how might sociological and psychological approaches to social psychology complement one another?

In terms of methods, sociological social psychologists tend to use surveys, experiments, and observation whereas psychological social psychologists largely use laboratory studies.Sociological social psychologists focus on social processes such as socialization, conformity, and leadership while psychological social psychologists focus on individuals-how social stimuli impact a person's internal states and behavior-in the areas of self, attitudes, and social learning.These approaches are complementary because they use multiple techniques to look at a wide range of social behaviors, richening the overall field.